I CAN SEE EM!

[dotrat]

Found a boat dock thats fairl well lit on the south shore in a cove and the place is saturated with small bait fish. every 5 mins or so 30 + inch fish show themselves on the surface. ive tried everything, chunk mackeral, big and small swimshads, black jointed stick bait. I was considering bringing down a few eels since ive been going at night. Its at the mouth to a small river, what should i try?

[55chev]

Dynamite!

[the bassman]

Add a teaser  to your offering-

 

Small salt water fly or rubber fish tied about a foot ahead of your main offering.  

[FishermanTim]

This would be a case where you want to try and "match the hatch" (so to speak) and use small lures that are cliose to the baitfish size.

 

There's a reason the bigger fish are there, and you just need to find the right lure and presentation to get their attention!

[BsCbandit09]

considering your name and location, if this cove is off 93 i know it well and it produces. i just moved back to that area and will probably be there this week. im thinking white/red 4" storms. that did the trick last time.

[hotfishgirl]

smaller sized cast masters will work.

[golden]

try the eels

[HanoverStriper]

Small swimmers with a teaser, or eels. I used to fish a well lit dock on the south shore near the mouth of a (not so small) river as well. Many nights had fish breaking all over the place, and wouldn't touch a thing. Eels were the only thing I caught them on, but I did not fish with teasers then, so...

[tiderid10]

unweighted slug-go... white during the day black at night.. Good Luck!!!

[clopes]

one thing I've always used at places like that is live bait and eels are one of the premiere baits. With that being said clams will definitely work and will be a consistent producer. They are relatively cheap if you buy in bulk. Use the small pieces for chum, and chum alot, and put the bigger pieces on the hook. Caught a ton of fish this way and some good size ones. Let us know how you did. And we want some pics.

[Dansmith]

Bring a cast net or snagging hooks, try and get a "sample", just to see what you're working with and to match it, or if the bait is big enough- liveline.

[wishiniwuzfishin]

unweighted slug-go... white during the day black at night.. Good Luck!!!

 

what he said... 4-6" inch soft baits, unweighted... on a lighter setup so you can really feel what your bait is doing...braid helps... twitch, pause... twitch twitch, pause... etc. On the pause (after the twitch) give it just enough slack to let it dart away from the direction of your twitch, but not so much you can't feel the take... try both dark and light colors, but considering its well lit, try baits with both... like alewife sluggos... good luck!

[rocket500]

Drifting an un-weighted sea worm will catch fish off the docks, if you are just dropping a line. Obviously not an option if you've got to cast any distance.

 

Live macks also work in this setting, if you can catch them nearby. I've had macks left in the livewell on a buddy's boat and we'd often catch a striper or two live lining one around the dock as we cleaned up the boat.

[stripedbassjeff]

I fish in these type areas alot in the southshore and had the same problems until recently. Most of the time those fish are drop back herring. There are the size of your thumbnail so impossible to duplicate. Well one way is to buy fresh herring or frozen and put a small piece freshwater hook,drop it in the midfle of a school and instant hook up. Another way is turn them of the herring. To do that buy a gallon of clams, cut the bellies up in small chunks, chum every couple minutes and when you see the stripers taking the clam put a peice on a 5 octupus circle hook and hold on.

Using lures focus on the shadow lines and keep your body out of the light if you can see your shadow on the water so can the fish. Stealth is key! Scope out the water see whats in it. There are usally other things feeding on the herring as well, look and see what those fish are and duplicate with your lure. I have personally seen harbor pollack, grass eels, sea herring and mackeral. The lures that dulicate that work well are bill hurleys 7 1/2'' eels, mackeral color salt pro minnow, 6'' tsunami herring shad and dark color magic swimmers abd little cleo spoons. Usally the more vibrations the lure makes the better. Reel it slow but jerj it hard every 3 turns or so.

[wishiniwuzfishin]

there you go... Plenty of good advice here... I'm learning too! Now go get em...